There are several different techniques used to make knife blades in the art known as bladesmithing. One process is forging, in which the steel blade is formed by a series of high pressure and force impacts until the desired shape is obtained. This process takes a relatively long time and requires the use of large, expensive machinery. Another process used to fabricate thinner blades is known as fine blanking, in which a strip of steel is uncoiled, straightened, flattened and moved into position where a die grips the steel while a punch forces the material into a cavity and counter punches perforate any holes required in the blade. This process is slower and more costly than conventional blanking. Prior to employing either of these processes, a precisely controlled tempering operation must be performed in order to produce hardened steel blades that are capable of maintaining a sharp edge. Following either of these processes, a final step must be performed to hollow grind the finished cutting edge on the blade.
In order to overcome some of the shortcomings of these prior art methods of making knife blades, injection molding techniques have been found to be ideally suited for high volume manufacturing of near net-shape blades. This process produces knife blades that have desired physical properties without the need to perform costly finishing operations. The process is relatively inexpensive and offers considerable advantages over processes that require additional machining and finishing operations to produce acceptable blades. Low pressures and temperatures are employed to shape the finished blades using aqueous feedstocks made from metal powders.